how often do you train

[big_fish]

I work on obedience every day (although some days it doesn't look like it) but how often do you train a young dog( 6 month old Brittany) in the field on birds? I try to get him out at least once a weekend and maybe 1 time through the week but I don't plant birds every time we go out. Should I be planting every time and do I need to step it up a little and try to get him out more?

[ultracarry]

Get out as often as you can. Have fun and I wouldn't withhold birds from a young dog.

[Hattrick]

Up to 6 months old i train on birds (pigeons) 4-5 times a week. more birds the better. At 5-6 months im teaching heel inforcing come on ecollar in short order FF. I have GSPs not sure how fast britts come along. Have fun

[markj]

Every minute with a dog is training. Must be carefull what you train into them

[RayGubernat]

Up to 6 months old i train on birds (pigeons) 4-5 times a week. more birds the better. At 5-6 months im teaching heel inforcing come on ecollar in short order FF. I have GSPs not sure how fast britts come along. Have fun

I do pretty much the exact opposite with my pointers. As puppies I show them just enough birds to make sure they are bird crazy, but mostly they get yardwork and play with runs in birdless fields.

I do yardwork every day, most often twice a day. The younger the dog is , the shorter the session is and the more play is interwoven with the training, but there is training every single day. The runs in birdless field s used to be relegated to weekends due to work. I can do more of that now, but honestly, I will just as often slow road the dog on foot by themselves or later on horseback with an experienced dog.

When the pup is listening well in the field and looks like it wants to be broke(they will telegraph that to you) I start testing them on a bird in a remote launcher. This usually happens somewhere between 9 and 12 months old. I might, depending on the dog set up a stoop to flush scenario. When I get the response I am looking for, I will then proceed with steadying the dog to wing and shot, which usually takes a few repetitions to get the pup to stand through the whole process. From then on the dog will be expected to stand until I get there, stand for the flight of a bird and steady to the shot. Repetitions and more repetitions in varying locations and varying situations. Practically all of the early work is done with pigeons.

My preference is to have the brakes and steering installed and tested before I take the car out onto the racetrack. I find I have less wrecks that way. There are plusses and minuses to each approach.

A very great deal of exactly how you proceed depends on each individual dog...AND what you have to work with in terms of time to train and availability of training grounds, birds, etc.

There is no one way that is best for every dog and every situation. There is no one way that is best for the personality of the trainer(which, BTW, is at least as important as the best way for the dog).

However, the good news is that there are at least a dozen ways that WILL work and work fine, if you use them consistently and correctly.

BTW, feral or barn pigeons are awesome for working with a youngster. I highly recommend them.

RayG

[Stoneface]

No matter the stage in trainng, etc, I always make sure the dogs get out for exercise often. Whether training or not. I actually just got in from running them. Have six dogs I'm working with right now, three are in advanced birdwork, three aren't on birds right now at all (have been on birds in the past and I'm training pigeons right now). I turn all of them out, walk at a real leisure pace to the end of a pond up the drive them turn around and come back. I pass two ponds and the girls make the most of them. I usually stop at the first pond and let them cool off and play some then we push on. That's every morning and every night. Moxy gets birds about twice a week, but she's in the far stages of advanced training. Penny gets no training at all, just happy timing. Cinna has not been on birds for about two weeks because she's going to a new home for a life of leisure. Bonnie and Lillie are head cases who are being rehabbed. Both in Whoa work about three to four times a week, twice a day. Then Josie is a newbie and has just barely even been ran with us. I have to get a feel for her and put her on a bird to two to see where she's at.

Something else is I always look for an opportunity to get the girls some run time in. If I'm headed down to the store I'll usually take one with me. Where I'm living right now there is a long drive, about 2/3 of a mile. I'll turn one of the dogs out of the kennel, hop in the pickup and away we go. I just follow them and they sprint the drive. They hop in the pickup, we go to the store, then run the drive all the way back to the kennel. Yesterday my aunt had a cookout, so I brought Cinna and she tore all over the property the whole time we were there. Wore herself out. Just anything to give them a break from the kennel and get them moving some.

[Elkhunter]

I am with Ray, very little artificial birds till they get that first season under their belt. I think a young dog benefits from application type training versus pigeons. Especially at a young age.